I am a beader who knits.
Bead Knitting seems to becoming the rage for many knitters. I have found though some very bizarre instructions and strange doings. The beader in me says it is because the pattern designers are not beaders but knitters. The Knitter in me wonders if they were just trying to make due without using the many tools beaders have.
So periodically now I will put beading tips for the knitter in my blog, once a week I will gather all these little tips and putting them on their own page to be added at a future date to the right.
Beading Tip 2 for the Knitter: Get thee to a Bead Store... a good one. Check the phone book. If you live in Florida I can probably guide you to one. If you don't have any I can recommend some places that are online.
Most knitters I see on blogs order from Fire Mountain Gems. Don't get me wrong they are a great store but it is mail order. Yes, they have great prices (I order from them a lot 100 dollars plus an order every month or so). But is that $25.00 order really a savings when you add another $5 for shipping, when the local beading store has it for $30.75 cents? And you get instant satisfaction? Not to mention, you get to see what you are buying before hand.
Pictures of bead really do not do them justice. You must really hold them up and see the sunlight shining through them. You must grope them to feel how the surface feels. (Think of it as yarn made of glass...).
You are also supporting a local business...that being said. Do not go hog wild at the first store you visit. Do your homework the next store you visit might have it for less than the first. The net is a wonderful place to get an idea of the prices but go to the small stores not the big ones. They are like Wal-Mart, they get volume pricing.
At the bead store, you have found a wonderful strand or hank of beads...one thing to remember is these beads are strung on white thread in most cases or a color thread to enhance the color. They may not look the same on that dark thread you are planning on using.
Next: Dealing with them Pesky Hanks of Beads…
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1 comment:
I tend to deal with pesky hanks by not buying them! Of course, they can be far cheaper than the neat little stringless tubes of beads, so are fine for beginning beaders. I've decided that I prefer delicas above all else and don't mind spending the extra $$.
I beaded first and now I knit, but combining the two doesn't interest me and I can't figure out why.
My bead site: http://www.theminx.com
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